New Delhi, April 5 (IANS) After two years of negotiations, India and France are likely to finalise by month-end a deal to upgrade the Indian Air Force’s Mirage-2000 fighter aircraft to enhance their combat capabilities and increase their service life, a defence ministry official said Monday.
“The deal is yet to be finalised,” the official told IANS.

“French officials were here for talks and would return this week to discuss it further. We expect it to be finalised by month-end,” the official added.

The deal for upgrading 50-odd aircraft is valued at between $1.5 billion and $2.2 billion and involves new avionics, as well as new weapons and senor suites, for the aircraft.

The first four to six Mirages will be upgraded in France and the balance in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) under a transfer of technology pact.

India first inducted 40 Mirages in the mid-1980s and procured over 20 more in later years. The aircraft more than proved its worth during the 1999 Kargil war with Pakistan.

This will be second biggest deal with France after after the ongoing 18,798 crore project to construct six Scorpene submarines at Mumbai’s Mazagon Docks.

Meanwhile, according to a report in the French newspaper Le Monde, France has has decided to suspend a $1.6 billion contract for supplying electronics and missiles for the JF-7 Thunder fighter that has been jointly developed by China and Pakistan to ensure this does not impact on India-France strategic relations.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) can address the alarming dip in its operational capabilities by upgrading
its fleet of Mirage-2000 fighter jets, even as it evaluates a global tender it has floated for purchasing
126 new combat aircraft, says French electronics major Thales, which is on the verge of inking the
upgrade deal.
'The upgrade will significantly enhance the IAF's air potential by extending the operational
performance of the Mirage fleet and taking full advantage of the aircraft's world class capabilities,'
Francois Quentin, Thales senior vice president and head of its aerospace division, told a group of
visiting Indian journalists here.
'As a result, the IAF will have a coherent platform-system combination for the next 20 years at a
significantly lower cost than the acquisition of new-build aircraft with equivalent performance,'
Quentin added.
At the same time, another Thales official pointed out that a decision on the upgrade would have to
be taken by the end of this year so that the project could begin early 2009, ahead of the
parliamentary polls that are due by May but could be advanced to February.
'Our experience, not only with India but with other countries also, has been that if an election comes
in the way, a decision on a project like this can be delayed by at least two years,' the official told
IANS on condition of anonymity.
This statement acquires significance since the IAF is known to have been considering the upgrade
for at least two years but floated a request for proposal (RFP) only in April, to which Thales replied in
July. Price negotiations are set to begin later this month.
While Thales was reluctant to state figures given a confidentiality clause, the project is believed to
be worth $1.5 billion for upgrading the 51 Mirage-2000s in the IAF fleet to Dash-5 levels. This will
give the jets multi-role capability with longer-range radars and fire-and-forget missiles, enabling the
aircraft to perform a given mission thanks to greater fuel and weapon-delivery capacities.
The upgrade will involve providing the Mirage-2000, which was first inducted in mid-1980 and of
which the IAF now operates 51, a state-of-the-art fly-by-wire digital cockpit and an enhanced
weapons-carrying capability.
Under the Thales proposal, the company would deliver the first two aircraft from its facilities in
France within 40 months of the signing of the contract, and would simultaneously assist Hindustan
Aircraft Limited (HAL) in upgrading another two aircraft in India in the same time frame.
Thereafter, HAL would upgrade one of the remaining 47 aircraft every month.
'The IAF will be further enhanced by the integration of new capabilities,' Pierre-Yves Chaltiec, CEO
of Thales Airborne Systems, said.
'These include longer range detection across the spectrum, improved tactical situation awareness,
longer range weapon firing against multiple simultaneous targets, weapon stealth and extended
operating envelope with the capability to engage ground targets while countering airborne threats,'
he added.
'The resulting tactical advantage will allow commanders to commit fewer aircraft while achieving a
higher success rate, thanks in particular to greater fuel and weapon-delivery capacities.
'For instance, a typical border protection mission involving two hours on station will require just two
upgraded Mirage-2000 aircraft compared with six current aircraft,' Chaltiec said.
The IAF had floated a global tender in September 2007 for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft in
a deal valued at $10 billion. Six jets are in the fray: the US Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and the
Lockheed Martin F-16, the French Dassault Rafale, the Swedish Saab Grippen, the Russian MiG-35
and the Eurofighter Typhoon built by a four-nation European consortium.
The technical bids are currently being evaluated after which all the six aircraft will be put through a
rigorous testing process in Bangalore, Jaisalmer and Leh.
The first is meant to gauge the aircraft's ability to operate in the humid conditions of southern India,
the second their effectiveness in the deserts of Rajasthan and the third to study their suitability in the
icy Himalayan heights of Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir.
By the time the evaluation process is complete, the size of the order is likely to rise to around 200
jets, as the IAF, which is down to 32 squadrons from a high of 39 1/2, is expected to see a further
depletion of its fleet due to the retirement of some its ageing Soviet-era MiG-21 aircraft. The IAF has
a sanctioned strength of 45 squadrons.

NEW DELHI: India and France are now finally close to inking the around Rs 10,000 crore project to upgrade the Mirage-2000 fighter jets in the IAF combat fleet after protracted negotiations.

The first four to six IAF Mirages will be upgraded in France, while the rest 50 will equipped with new avionics, weapon and sensor suites to enhance their combat edge by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd in India under transfer of technology in the project.

"It (the project finalisation) should happen shortly,'' IAF chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik told TOI on Monday. This will be the second such big programme with the upgrade of 63 MiG-29s already underway under a $964 million contract inked with Russia in March 2008.

It will also be the second big defence deal to be inked with France after the ongoing Rs 18,798 crore project to construct six Scorpene submarines at Mazagon Docks, which incidentally is running two years behind schedule amid huge cost escalation.

"The scope of Mirage upgrade will be much larger than the MiG-29 one...it will be more high-end. It will cost half of the fighter's worth. After the upgrade, the Mirages will serve us for another 15-20 years,'' said another officer.

"A French team will be coming again in early-March to finalise the details. The CNC (contract negotiation committee) should conclude in another two months. The Cabinet Committee on Security's approval will then be sought,'' he added.

The inking of the deal could be well be timed with French President Nicolas Sarkozy's proposed visit to India later in the year. The project has been hanging fire for the last few years because the package offered by French companies Dassault Aviation (aircraft manufacturer), Thales (weapons systems integrator) and MBDA (missile supplier) was around 30% higher than what India was ready to pay.

Having first inducted 40 Mirages in the mid-1980s, India had procured over 20 more in later years. With the Mirages successfully conducting `targeted bombings' during the 1999 Kargil conflict, IAF had some years ago even pitched for the advanced Mirage-2000-Vs for its gigantic $10.4-billion project for 126 new medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA).

But even as France shut down its Mirage assembly line, the defence ministry also told IAF to go in for `a global tender' for the MMRCA project. Now, the French Rafale is competing with American F/A-18 `Super Hornet' (Boeing) and F-16 `Falcon' (Lockheed Martin), Russian MiG-35 (United Aircraft Corporation), Swedish Gripen (Saab) and Eurofighter Typhoon (consortium of British, German, Spanish and Italian companies) in the hotly-contested MMRCA race.

Faced with a depleting number of fighter squadrons (each has 16 to 18 jets), down to just 32 from a `sanctioned strength' of 39.5, IAF is going for a mix of upgrades and new inductions like Sukhoi-30MKIs to maintain its combat readiness.

Gandhinagar: Air Chief Marshal PV Naik today said that upgrading old Mirage fighter aircraft is a better option than buying new fighter planes.

When asked why Air Force was spending millions of dollars in upgrading old Mirages as the money could well be used in buyingnew Sukhois, Naik said, "When you buy an (fighter) aircraft itis not only the aircraft that you buy, you spend money in training people, erecting infrastructure, logistics, spares supply and life time support."

"The residual life of the 50 odd Mirages that are left is another 20 years. If I throw them away I have wasted 20 years of that residual life. But upgrading them, with the infrastructure already available, seems a better option, considering the life time cost," he added.

Talking about the Air Force's long-term perspective planning, Naik said, "Wherever there is residual useful life left, in any system not only aircraft, we try and upgrade. So that at least part of that residual life is used. But wherever there is no residual life left we try and replace."

He further said that when you upgrade an aircraft the cost is higher than 50% of the original cost.

When asked about the role of Air Force in coastal security, the Air Chief Marshall said the Indian Navy has acquired crucial assets for the same purpose.

"For coastal security, fighter aircraft are not required. For that you require slow moving aircraft which can have cameras and other sensors," Naik said.

"As far as Air Force is concerned there is one great asset we can use for coastal security and that is the UAVs (Unmanned Ariel Vehicles). They are already being used in areas like Haraminala," he added.

"With more UAVs we can use them more often. They can remain airborne for longtime. They do not have to come back and give the information. Whatever they see, hear or locate is transmitted simultaneously . Hence these become important assets in coastal areas," Naik added.

He said IAF they had used UAVs in the naxal affected areas 3-4 years ago. "We have used these in Raipur and Jagdalpur. But the problem in these areas is that they are covered by jungles. So, as far as visual clues are concerned, we can't get there as there is a thick forest cover."

"However one can get some clues using Infra Red lights or detect some metals. Also, naxals are very fleeting targets, so locating them under the jungle cover is very difficult. But in open areas we can definitely use UAVs more," he added.

Talking about situation at Indo-China border, Naik said, "There are border problems. Such problems cannot be solved so fast. How to proceed is the matter for the government to decide. We are just the military and have to ensure that the border is secure."

to counter attack this post, there is no pakistani member online. . lol. .dont underestimate chinese, they have the ability to give surprise

Click to expand...

A surprise in such a manner, that A/C they sell is not even considered useful by their Air-force, this was a surprise! An a/c whose radar is not even finalized or if it has a radar, is some chinese vintage radar and unfinished avionics!!!! is already sold and flying in pakistan without completion of the program.

Let them have china made cheap planes which are good for us as practice targets.

Click to expand...

Enemy should not be underestimated...
Any ways is there any chance of Integrating MBDA meteor on M2k?
And are our archers and adders already integrated in m2k??
Again what are the further advantage will this upgrade have as compared to f16 blk 52 that it has to counter?
Moreover it is integrated with mica(range <60 source wiki)
whereas f-16 is integrated with aim 120 c-5
(range 105 km (65 miles) source: http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-120.html)
So how will it counter this new threat?